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One of the most customized projects I did in the last year was a special set of wedding invitations, stationery, and accessories for a local couple. Meagan Crain, their wedding planner, contacted me and we met with the couple early on to get a feel for their style and vision for their ceremony and reception.

They wanted a unique and completely custom design that captured them and their relationship with a nod to our location here in Tucson and the setting of their wedding, Hacienda del Sol, a beautiful historic local inn.

We ended up deciding to commission a custom watercolor painting of the iconic entry gate at Hacienda del Sol. The artist was able to capture the casual, whimsical style they were going for, and an added perk to this approach is that the couple got to keep the original painting as a beautiful keepsake.

They chose a kraft paper gatefold backing for the invite, and finished each one off with twine and a charm.

We also had the artist create a separate little watercolor of a succulent that matched the invite. We used this as part of their wedding logo and it helped to tie all of the pieces together – the program, response cards, escort cards, etc.

In lieu of traditional table numbers, we found hand-drawn images of local flowers, animals, and images to identify each table, all indicated on a big poster I designed and with individual cards for each table.

I learned so much from this project – there were many elements to coordinate and a lot of communication to make sure that we captured their complete vision, but the end result was a truly customized and unique package for this couple. Check out more details from this fabulous wedding at Meagan's blog here.

Last year I collaborated with a local wedding planner, Meagan Crain of MC Events, on a custom design for a midcentury modern wedding invitation, dessert table sign, and menu. This was for a stylized photo shoot, not an actual wedding, but it was a fun project and I just recently got the photos, which were taken by She.We Studios of Tucson. I loved this theme and enjoyed coming up with print materials to coordinate with the style of the shoot!

Need a custom design for a wedding invitation or other event? Contact me and let's start brainstorming!

I've had some pretty, simple silhouette invitations in the shop for a few years, so this year I decided to update them with a few different options of watercolor backgrounds and a modern calligraphy script. I love the way they came out, and the background is super simple to modify for customers who want different colors. You can check them out here, and I can create cupcake toppers, thank-you notes, and other printables to coordinate with these themes as well.

My daughter's birthday was in August, and this year she requested a small family birthday party, which was just fine with me! That gave me an opportunity to focus on some cute details without stressing over a big, expensive bash.

Maggie's favorite color is lavender, so we used that as our starting point. She asked to get a comfortable maxi dress to wear for the party, and when I came across this dress on Lolly Wolly Doodle, we decided to purchase it and use a chevron print in the decor too. If you're looking for cute girls' clothes, whether for a party or not, I recommend checking out Lolly Wolly Doodle's website and Facebook page - I love supporting another mom-owned business, and they have a fantastic success story about how they grew their business! They'll monogram their items very inexpensively, so that adds a cute personalized touch.

I designed a simple invitation that we emailed to the family - similar to this chevron invitation I'm now carrying in my Etsy shop - I'm able to customize it for whatever color scheme my clients need, so it's a really versatile design.

We set up a little drink and snack station within easy reach for all of the little cousins, and decorated with some inexpensive and cute tissue paper flowers, crepe paper streamers, and a banner I designed to coordinate with the theme:

I got the chevron paper drinking straws from this Etsy shop - I loved that it was another Etsy seller from Arizona, and she has tons of color options and other cute items (treat bags, washi tape, twine) that are perfect for parties.

Rather than ice cream, Maggie wanted a make-your-own sundae bar like Luke had for his birthday party earlier this year.

It was a very relaxed get-together and we all had a great time - and I had a happy eight (!!) year old.

For my son's 10th birthday, he wanted to have his first sleepover. We agreed to a small gathering of just a few of his friends, and decided on an Origami Yoda theme, since that book series was one of his current favorites and the boys love anything Star-Wars related, so we had a lot of options for this one!

I gathered all of his Origami Yoda books for inspiration for the invitation and decor. Using the black background and lime green as an accent color, this was the invitation design:

If you have a 10-year-old boy in your life, you can imagine how much he cares about party decor ("seriously, Mom, centerpieces?!") - Luke really just wanted a fun time with his friends, but I couldn't help but do a little something to make it fun and festive. And even he admitted it was "cool." I didn't fuss too much, but I got my assistant to create some tissue paper pom-poms in the black and lime green color scheme. I set up a (short-lived) display with the Origami Yoda books and another book Luke had, so that the boys would have them for some activities...

With Luke's birthday falling right after Christmas, I always luck out with decor if I can work green or red into the theme. I picked up these sparkly clusters of plasticky fake leaves, completely unsure of what I was going to do with them. I threw them into little vases with pebbles and bunched up foil tissue paper from Dollar Tree, and in about 10 seconds I had some fun centerpieces - I also ran metallic wrapping paper across the dining room table, which was where the boys would be hanging out. Fun and functional, as it protected the table from the coming mayhem.

Because we agreed that this would be a very small gathering, I was able to purchase nicer favors than I can when we have a big crowd, and in this case, the favors were going to double as the evening's activities as well, I got each boy (and of course Luke's little sister!) a pack of this origami paper from amazon.com. Make sure you shop around for this kind of thing - I had seen it for double the price at Michael's and was so glad I checked Amazon! I also got each guest a fine-tip black Sharpie, a silver Sharpie, and a roll of fun colored washi tape - some of Luke's favorite origami tools. You can get the Sharpies and washi tape at any discount store, office supply store, or Michael's, but also check Etsy for some really cute, fun washi tape patterns. We put the goodies in a white lunch bag with stickers I designed, along with some origami folding instructions we got from the Origami Yoda website. The boys went to town, making all kinds of fun and crazy creations. Evidence of the fun:

We concluded the crafty part of the evening with an epic (their word!) paper airplane making contest, and then moved on to pizza and make-your-own ice cream sundaes. The boys then wound down with a showing of Star Wars and happily crashed for the night. This was such a fun party, and I love how intent the boys were on their projects – it kept them busy and content for hours – hooray! If you have a child who is around this age, check out the Origami Yoda book series - a big hit for them!

Linking up here - click the image below to link to lots of great ideas and inspiration!

One of my favorite birthday party themes that we've done for my daughter is her fairy party. I designed a cute fairy invitation, with a pink watercolor background and silhouettes:

For the cake, I bought the delicious chocolate round cake from Costco and just spruced it up with a bunch of sprinkles and a topper I designed to coordinate with the theme. We placed it on a dessert table decorated with a banner and tissue paper pom-poms. I purchased fairy wings, tutus, and wands for the girls to wear at the party and take home as favors (comment below if you want the source - great prices!). It was fun, cute, and a great memory for my daughter!

It's a busy time of year for my Etsy shop - I always do a lot of invitations and party printables for people celebrating their children's First Communion. Check out the invitation and party I did for my own son's First Communion last year. I went with a simple, clean gray design for the invitation:

And for the party, a table setup including wheat and grapes (a little Catholic symbolism there) and a fabulous cake by Lucy at Pretty Sweet Desserts (chocolate and salted caramel buttercream!) that she designed to coordinate with the theme:

We had a barbecue lunch catered and invited close family and friends - a perfect way to celebrate Luke's special day!

One of my favorite projects from the past few months was a super cute Elmo-themed birthday party package that I designed for an old friend from college. What made this project even more fun was that this particular friend is exceptionally crafty and creative, so I created items to her specifications and was very excited to see her ideas come to life!

She wanted to incorporate an Elmo theme with a bright turquoise chevron, which was a fun and unexpected background for this adorable party for her daughter. Check out these cute invitations:

And my favorite touch, these centerpieces....."This party is brought to you by the letter 'C' and the number '2'"

All in all, it looks like this party was a success - fun and cute for the birthday girl and kudos to her mom for the great ideas!

I recently threw a shower to help prepare for the arrival of my newest niece, Penelope, due in March. Penny's mom's favorite color is Tiffany blue, and she loves bows - so since this is her first little girl, we combined those two ideas for the theme.

First, the invitation, which I recently added to my Etsy shop and previously mentioned here.

We planned a simple menu of various apps and a main course of baked ziti, meatballs, and a big tossed salad. For decor, we did simple centerpieces with a charger, glass bowl, alstromeria and baby's breath with ferns for a little greenery. With the help of my assistant (my seven-year-old daughter), I painted a fun scrolled board and letter "P" from Michael's for a cute monogram. We thought this would be pretty in the baby's room after the shower.

We also had a pretty dessert table, with a banner I designed to coordinate with the theme, a simple cake, and other coordinating sweets from the party store.

We added adorable party favors - scratch-off lottery tickets in a simple folded envelope made of aqua card stock, topped off with a "lucky penny":

All in all, the shower was a success. It was pretty and casual and we were able to do it all on a reasonable budget - mission accomplished!

My most popular color request right now is this pretty shade of Tiffany blue - here are two new invitations I'm adding to the Etsy shop today. These designs were created as I was working on a theme for a baby shower to prepare for my new niece, Penelope, due in March - so excited! These are perfect for a baby shower, bridal shower, or party invitation, and can be customized with or without the bows.